Goldman Sachs lifted its year-end target for the S&P 500 to 5,600 from 5,200 — and the investment firm bets it could even go as high as 6,300.
These rosy expectations were driven by “milder-than-average negative earnings revisions and a higher fair value price/earnings multiple,” a team of strategists led by David Kostin wrote in a note to clients last Friday.
So far this year, the index has risen 15%, and just five stocks accounted for the majority — 60% — of those big returns. They collectively surged 45% and now make up one-quarter of the S&P 500 equity cap, according to the research note.
The five companies, all found in the tech sector, posted year-over-year earnings per share growth of 84% for the first quarter of 2024, compared with 5% for the typical S&P 500 stock. While analysts have raised their profit forecasts by 38% for these stocks, they lowered their estimates for the other 495 stocks in the index by 5%, per the note. And each one has seen their value surge as investors continue to buzz over the potential of artificial intelligence.
Click through to find out which companies are giving the S&P 500 a major returns boost so far this year.
